MalaGIS

Sharing GIS Technologies, Resources and News.

As a GIS frontend developer, I work extensively with various large-scale graphics libraries: OpenLayers, Leaflet, Mapbox GL JS, Cesium, Turf.js... These libraries often contain tens of thousands of lines of code. I wonder if you've encountered situations during development where you needed to modify the source code within node_modules. For example, in my old projects using OpenLayers 6.x, some third-party plugins were no longer updated. In such cases, upgrading to newer plugin versions would require upgrading the OpenLayers version, which is often an impossible workload for a project delivered years ago.

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Just a few days ago, the MapLibre community officially released the MapLibre Tile (MLT) format. This could very well be the most fundamental and hardcore technological innovation in the WebGIS domain since Mapbox defined the MVT standard a decade ago. The official announcement claims that MLT can achieve compression rates up to 6 times better than MVT and decoding speeds 3 times faster! So what exactly is MLT? Why is it positioned to challenge MVT? Let's delve into the details today.

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Recently, while working on an offline map deployment project, I found that the transfer efficiency was relatively low and offline deployment cumbersome when dealing with massive amounts of scattered tile files. Initially, I considered using a ZIP package for transfer and extraction, but later discovered that a format already existed which implements this concept and does so even better: MBTiles. MBTiles is a map tile storage specification based on an SQLite database. It packages thousands of independent map tiles (PNG, JPG, or vector PBF) into a single .mbtiles file.

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On January 5, 2026, Mapbox, a leading global location services platform, officially announced the launch of its Mapbox 3D Lanes feature, designed to address the common problem of taking wrong turns at complex intersections. The Mapbox 3D Lanes feature includes lane geometry, lane markings, and 3D models of overpasses and tunnels, helping drivers follow their routes more easily.

How Effective Is It?

Frankly, our team was immediately captivated by the released preview images. After all, when it comes to aesthetic appeal, Mapbox has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

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During a casual chat in the MalaGIS WeChat group, someone asked when GIS skills become most useful in daily life. Answers ranged from food delivery route optimization to travel planning, but the most insightful response was "assessing location (including Feng Shui) for property purchases". Among factors like sunlight access—a critical yet often overlooked parameter—most standard map apps fail to provide this data, requiring specialized GIS software (refer to methods in "ArcGIS 3D Handbook: Sunlight and 3D Path Analysis"). Recently, I discovered an online WebGIS application that simulates sunlight and shadows for any global location at any date—an excellent tool worth sharing.

Official site: https://shademap.app/

ShadeMap enables browser-based simulation of mountain, building, and tree shadows at any global coordinate for customizable dates/times. Users achieve precise, interactive sunlight and shadow analysis without client installations.

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